KIDS COSTUMES
Down With The Kids
PP takes a closer look at what’s hot within the children’s dress-up space, checking in with some key suppliers on how they see the rest of 2021 panning out.
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nrelenting, always in fashion, entertainment driven. The list goes on when it comes to children’s television and ‘what kids want’. PP knows only too well, with an eight year old and three year old who are brilliantly capable of being into a new trend for at least 24 hours before the next. This is, however, great news for the kids costumes market and while
a lot of major studios have delayed new releases during the pandemic, the natural course of TV characters and excitement for those delayed releases stays true and strong when it comes to the tumble down into dress-up. “We’ve seen that costumes have played a big part in keeping children happy over the last year, with some really interesting takes on themes,” says Sharon Poulter, licensing and marketing manager at RH Smith & Sons. “Barbie has been a popular at-home children’s birthday theme on Instagram throughout lockdown and we’ve added two new kids costume options to our current Barbie range, perfect for birthday celebrations and imaginative play.” Licensed costumes take the majority of transactions in the market, amplified over the last seven years (let’s forget 2021) of continual growth for World Book Day – a literary event that stays true to its cause though keeps pulling through the next generation of children who get the bug for dressing up. Left: Smiffys’ is in charge of all things ‘In a Barbie World’
Above: Rubies’ Raya has enjoyed a fantastic up-take.
Speaking with BBC News in March 2021, Mike O’Connell, Rubies UK managing director confirmed that while the event was challenged with retailers being closed, the “Virtual World Book Day this year was still something of a success for our online retail partners who’ve done very well”. He continued: “Marvel costumes have been particularly popular and have been for the last 12 months. As you can imagine that’s because heroes are very topical. Harry Potter again is also very popular this year.” Rubies continues to push forward in the licensing arena having seen amazing reaction to its Raya and The Last Dragon on Disney+. Critics and fans are loving the fantastic fantasy film and retail customers will love the costume, APRIL 2021 PROGRESSIVE PARTY EUROPE
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